Stories from the Sidelines: Transition from Foundation degree to Honours Year

Discourses of Inclusion in Higher EducationOpen University Widening Participation Conference 201224-25 April 2012

Kate Thomas University of the West of England

• outline the aims, methodology of a longitudinal research project investigating the process of transition from Foundation degree to Honours year

• draw on individual narratives of transition to highlight key findings and themes

• show how research findings are being utilised to support the transition process

this session will:

• longitudinal research project (March 2010-May 2011) • tracked student narratives of transition from a Foundation

degree (Fd) at a Further Education College to an Honours year at a Higher Education Institution

• investigated how the process of transition impacts upon students’ experience of HE and their identities as ‘work-connected’ learners?

• investigated the role of institutional mechanisms and interventions in supporting/hindering transition?

Working on Transition

• introduced in 2001• two-year, higher education qualifications aiming to ‘give people the

intermediate technical and professional skills...in demand from employers’ (HEFCE 2010)

• some Fds highly sector- or employer-specific; others more generic (work-connected)

• Fd students more likely to be:– older– from lower socio-economic backgrounds– have vocational, lower-achieving or interrupted histories of participation in

education

in comparison with students on ‘traditional’ Honours degrees.

context: Foundation degrees

• ‘validating’ post-1992 university with multiple FE College partners

• 25 Foundation degrees• 850 students, 600 FTE• project built on previous research into the ‘first year

Fd experience’ (Part of the Bigger Picture, 2008)

the research context

• inherent differences between the foundation degree and the honours degree...mean the transition for many students will inevitably be difficult’ (Greenbank, 2010:100).

• more than ‘discernible events, experienced in a linear sequence of progression’ (Ecclestone, 2009: p27)

• ‘transitions become problematic when a viable identity in one context does not transfer to another’ (Ecclestone, 2010:12)

• role of the environment in shaping the impact of transition?

transition

data collectionPhase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3

March-July 2010 Sept-December 2010 January-May 2011

6 Fd cohorts30 participants4 Fd programmes

113 students contacted11 Fd programmes

113 students contacted11 Fd programmes

•paper questionnaire (100%)•group interviews (x6)•visits to university campus•online feedback after visits

•individual interviews (x4)•online questionnaire (32%)•students’ online diaries

•individual interviews (x5)•online questionnaire (33%)•students’ online diaries

• four ‘stories from the sidelines’• trajectories of transition, threads of work-connectedness,

agency and belonging across diverse experiences and different disciplines

• ‘the rich accounts of the complexities of real life and and emphasis on the particular’ (Bathmaker, 2010:3)

• ‘foreground the relationship between the individual and wider structures’ (ibid 4).

story/narrative

key themes

• information• interaction• induction• intervention

information

pre-transition• programme content• learning environment• logistics

post-transition• academic procedures• how to use equipment• jargon

Some of us who are consideringgoing don’t really know what isactually going to happen next yearabout what modules we’re going totake.

(I need to know)..where you’re goingto park and if you can get somethingto eat because I tend to be at work ina morning any time from 7.30amonwards and if I’ve got to keep goinguntil 8.30pm...it’s good to know allthat in advance.

interaction

tutor/student• context • perceptions• ‘not being known’

student/student• social integration• role modelling

It’s been quite cool having J (HEtutor) because she obviously knowsmore about the academic side...she bridged the gap very well.

my main concern is that we are going to go into a third year and the tutors won’t know us and know our work

You’re put in your place, definitely. They don’t really know anything about us but they make these assumptions...

induction

course

content 8

7%

campus t

our 73%

meet tuto

rs 70%

meet stu

dents 67%

assessm

ent regs

60%0%

20%40%60%80%

100%

induction included:

You see all these possibilities, all the equipment and

facilities and you think ‘Wow, this is amazing!’ but then at

this stage in your degree you can’t just go and mess

about...so I haven’t used anything really.

induction

intervention – campus visits

we went for a day in Freshers’ Week…we satthrough the lectures and everything was goneby the time we got out

we haven’t been to see where we’re going inthe third year, so it’s all our imagination...it’slike this mystery, behind locked doors...youvisualise all sorts of madness really

overall it was good to be able to visit as it hasmade me feel more confident about going. Inow know there is someone I can contact

intervention

The different groups have beenmixed up…for me, it’s completelyout of my comfort zone…but actually it’s broadened our horizons

What would really work is there wasone person all the FdA people couldgo to if we had questions

• Pauline• Phoebe• Tom• Maria

stories from the sidelines

Pauline’s storyIt was an easy transition really...I don’t feel I’ve finished one course and started another one, it’s just been a completely natural, smooth transition from my second to third year. I think that people who have come from colleges will see it very differently.

Phoebe’s storyIt’s almost like (the college) was playing at being a university and this is actually the university and this is how it happens

I do feel more confident in the workplace and I’m quite happy now to go and speak to parents in the playground

(the tutor) still struggles with my name…it seems’ like there are obvious favourites because they’ve been here for the last two years. I don’t feel positive anymore

Tom’s storyCollege was just like doing two more years of A level studies…then the 3rd year was a big step up really.

It would be nice to come here and live on campus but my girlfriend lives in Swindon.

I felt new at the beginning…now I just feel like one of the crowd.

Maria’s storyYou’re put in your place, definitely. They don’t really know anything about us but they make these assumptions.

I think I had to come here to understand where I fit into the creative world.

The Fd was a gentler way of coming into it which is the one advantage of doing it the way we did.

interactive Transition Workshop for second year Fd students• consider transitions already made• resources and coping mechanisms• use individual ‘stories’ to elicit students’ own concerns re:

transition to Honours year • create a preparation checklist for further research/discussion

utilising findings to support transition

• when did you start thinking about Fd study?• when did you make the decision to study the Fd?• how did you prepare?• who or what supported you?• how did you feel – on the first day?– at the end of the first term?– at the end of the first year?

your transition to a Foundation degree

• up to 3 things you are looking forward to?• up to 3 things you have concerns/anxieties about?• up to 3 things you need to find out/by when/from whom?

your transition to an Honours year

for discussion

• nature of transition – continuing/new• belonging/integration – special/normal• ‘work-connectedness’ – valued/related• identity - learner/professional• institutional mechanisms – support/challenge

Kate ThomasSenior Programme Manager

Schools and Colleges Partnership ServiceUWE

kate2.thomas@uwe.ac.uk0117 38 1436

Thank you